ASSESSMENT OF LABORATORY COMMODITY SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEM AT PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES OF JIMMA ZONE AND JIMMA TOWN ADMINISTRATION, SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA

Background: Laboratory commodity management (LCM) is a formidable challenge because of various reasons. Poor LCM could produce wrong laboratory result. However, the status of laboratory commodity supply chain system in Jimma zone is not clearly known. Thus, we aimed to assess the overall supply chain system of laboratory commodity in selected public health facilities of Jimma zone, south west Ethiopia. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study within 3 different strata of health facilities: hospitals, A-level health centers, and B-level health centers were conducted. About 40 basic laboratory commodities as well as all pharmacy and laboratory professionals were included for the assessment. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance with 95% confidence interval using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was performed. Results: A total of 34 facilities having totally 146 professionals were included. Among these 146 professionals only 2 pharmacy professionals took LCM training. In 16(47.1%), 12(35.3%) and 1(2.9%) facilities only 1 pharmacy, 1 laboratory and 0 pharmacy professionals, respectively were available. About 40% of facilities were found to be stocked-out (SO) on the day of visit and the mean day of SO was 51 days. The mean month-of-stock (MOS) on-hand was 5.51. Health centers were more SO than hospitals. Around 31(91.2%), 30(88.2%), 29(85.3%), and 1(2.9%) facilities responded using report and requisition form, internal facility report and requisition form, bin card, and stock card, respectively, however, practically 15(44.1%) had no report on the tools. About 33(97.1%) facilities never received all ordered quantities from their main source, pharmaceuticals fund and supply agency, and 23(67.6%) received products near to their expiry date. Six (17.6%) facilities were resupplied within 2-4 weeks lead time. Sixteen (47.1%) facilities were supervised within last month, 3(8.8%) have never been supervised and in 23(67.6%) the supervision did not include laboratory commodities. About 9(26.5%) facilities were not doing demand forecast. Thirty-three (97.06%) facilities didn`t have separate budget for laboratory commodities. Conclusion: Stocks availability in Jimma zone was found very low. However, MOS on hand showed a better result, though it may not be an indication of good practice. Facilities' storage practice was less than the minimum value.